1 . Japanese archaeologists (考古学家) have uncovered al 7.5-foot-long irons sword and a bronze mirror from an ancient tomb near the city of Nara. Researchers found both artifacts while unearthing a l,600-year-old site called Tomio Maruyama.
The weapon, known as a dako sword, is so large that it was likely never used for self-defense, serving instead as a means of protection against evil after death. Like other dako swords unearthed in the country, this one looks like a snake. Due to the artifact’s size, the researchers initially thought they had found multiple swords lined up next to each other.
Experts said the mirror, which is shaped like a shield (盾), was also likely used to shun evil spirits. It measures 25 inches by 12 inches and weighs more than 12 pounds, making it the largest of its kind discovered in Japan, too.
The finds offer new insights into the Kofun period, which lasted from around the year 250 AD to 538 AD and is named for the distinctive tomb mounds, constructed to bury members of the ruling class. Kosaku Okabayashi, the deputy director for Nara prefecture’s Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, said, “These discoveries indicate that the technology of the Kofun period is beyond what had been imagined, and they are masterpieces in metalwork from that period.”
Japan is home to an estimated 160,000 burial mounds from the Kofun period, though the Tomio Maruyama kofun is particularly large. Measuring 350 feet in diameter and up to 32 feet tall, it dates back to the late fourth century.
Archaeologists think it has some connection to an influential person who supported the rulers of the day, the imperial Yamato family. Based on the presence of the two artifacts, the dead person may have been involved in military and ritualistic matters. So far, the researchers have discovered a coffin but no human remains in the burial chamber.
1. How did researchers find an irons sword and a bronze mirror?| A．By exploring an old tomb. |
| B．By asking experienced local villagers. |
| C．By searching for much information online. |
| D．By carefully studying historical materials. |
| A．It is in a very small size. |
| B．It looks like a sharp shield. |
| C．It was mainly used for self-defense. |
| D．It might be used to drive the evil away. |
| A．Schedule. | B．Design. | C．Avoid. | D．Express. |
| A．Negative. | B．Appreciative. | C．Unclear. | D．Indifferent. |
2 . A seven-word sentence was discovered on a 3,700-year-old comb (梳子),which is likely the oldest known sentence written in letters,according to a new study. The sentence is in Canaanite (迦南语),which is the source (来源) of later letter systems in European languages.
The comb was first discovered in 2016 in Israeli. However,it wasn’t until 2021 that a researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem first noticed the words when checking the photo of the comb. The researchers were not able to directly date the comb. They believed it dated from around 1700 BC based on comparison of the letters with those on pottery (陶器) with a known age.
Garfinkel,a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,said,“The Canaanites invented the letters. Nowadays every person in the world can read and write using the letter system. This is really one of the most important achievements of humankind. When you are writing in English,you’re really using Canaanite.”
Small groups of Canaanite letters discovered on broken pieces of pottery before did not leave much room for further research on the lives of the Canaanites. But this find of a sentence written in the first letter-based language opens up the debate about the history during the ancient time period.
Garfinkel said,“The sentence was found on an ivory comb in the ancient city’s palace and temple area,which could suggest that only wealthy men were able to read and write.” The earliest writing system started around 5,000 years ago,which relied on hundreds of pictographs (象形文字) to represent words,ideas and sounds. Canaanites were the first to use letters in their writing system. “It shows that even in the most ancient times there were full sentences,which further suggests that Canaanites stood out among the early civilizations in their use of the written word.”
1. What do we know about Canaanite?| A．It has a history of 3,700 years. | B．It is the oldest known language. |
| C．Its sentences are in many languages. | D．Its letters are still in use at present. |
| A．It was discovered on some pottery. | B．It was identified on a comb in 2016. |
| C．It was recognized when dating the comb. | D．It was recognized on a photo of the comb. |
| A．The influence of Canaanite letters. |
| B．The rules of using Canaanite letters. |
| C．The problem in identifying the Canaanite sentence. |
| D．The explanation of the discovered Canaanite sentence. |
| A．Useless. | B．Meaningful. | C．Confusing. | D．Unacceptable. |
More than 500 items were discovered at Sanxingdui Ruins site in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. These items, including remains of a gold mask,
Sanxingdui is believed to have sat at the heart of the Shu state,
Archaeologists(考古学家) realized they had just got
Around 200 more warriors from ancient China’s Terracotta Army (兵马俑) have been unearthed at the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The discovery was made during the
Shen Maosheng, who led the dig, said most of the newly found warriors can be divided into two groups. One group is carrying poles, while
The Terracotta Army,
It was first discovered in 1974 by farmers
Archaeologists started a new excavation at No.1 Pit in 2009. The 200 new warriors
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Since the digging of No.3 to No.8 sites begin in October last year, about 500 pieces of relics (文物) have been found at Sanxingdui Ruins in southwest China Sichuan Province. The relics, discovered at six new sites, include the golden masks. Many of them are unique shaped. The new finds have brought the total amount of the relics discovered at the ruins to nearly 2,000. The discoveries has shown that ancient China is far more developed we have expected.
Sanxingdui was discovered in the early twenty century. It has been considering as one of the greatest archaeological (考古的) wonder in the world.
6 . Like many of the arts, music flourished during the Zhou dynasty. From this period we have instruments, models of performers, descriptions of musicians and dancers, and the Shijing, or The Book of Poetry, which contains poems and songs of court and common people during the Zhou dynasty. It is likely that music played an extremely important role in the Zhou dynasty for all social classes.
One of the most important sources of information the researchers have regarding Zhou-dynasty music is from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (433 B.C.E.). This tomb was uncovered in 1977 in Hubei Province and contained the most extensive and well-preserved set of musical instruments ever found in an ancient Chinese tomb. This four-chamber (室) tomb was designed in imitation of a palace with a central courtyard, reflecting the belief that the Marquis Yi would require the same comforts in the afterlife that he had enjoyed during his lifetime. The central chamber of the tomb, which mirrored a palace courtyard, contained most of the musical instruments found, including a complete set of sixty-five graduated bells fixed on wooden shelves. In addition, twenty-one young women were buried with the Marquis Yi, some of whom were likely his favorite musicians and dancers.
The Marquis Yi’s set of sixty-five bells is remarkable for a variety of reasons. First, they are clearly dated—an inscription (碑文) indicates that the bells were a gift given to him in 433 B.C.E.. Second, the bells were very expensive to produce and to purchase, particularly a set of this size, so they are further evidence of the Marquis Yi’s status. Finally, the bells, along with the other instruments in the room, illustrate what an instrumental band might have consisted of during this period. Scholars predict that it would have required twenty-four musicians to play all instruments at once.
There are still many gaps in our knowledge of ancient Chinese music, partly because there was no system for recording music in a written form.
1. The Book of Poetry is mentioned in paragraph 1 to _______.| A．show the significance of the book. |
| B．describe the meaning of the book. |
| C．represent the life of people in the Zhou dynasty. |
| D．show the popularity of music in the Zhou dynasty. |
| A．It contains a complete set of musical instruments. |
| B．It is designed by the Marquis Yi of Zeng. |
| C．It is of the same size as that of the palace. |
| D．It reflects the wish of the Marquis Yi for his life after death. |
| A．Because it once was an expensive gift. |
| B．Because it was difficult to buy at that time. |
| C．Because it might prove the Marquis Yi’s position. |
| D．Because it needs twenty-four performers to play at the same time. |
| A．A look into the Zhou-dynasty Music. | B．An Invaluable Tomb. |
| C．Ancient Musical Instruments. | D．The Importance of Ancient Music. |
7 . In 1914, Emest Shackleton and his team left England in a wooden sailing ship called the Endurance, hoping to become the first to cross Antarctica.
But in 1915, the Endurance became trapped over the Weddell Sea. The ice destroyed the Endurance and later sank it. Shackleton and all of his men lived, but the tale of their long and difficult return is one of the most famous survival stories of all time.
Much was known about the location of the Endurance. The ship’s captain kept accurate records of the ship’s position. The ship’s photographer even took pictures of it as it went down. But the ship, deep in the icy waters near Antarctica, had never been found.
Now, a search team called “Endurance22” located the ship, which was found 1.87 miles below the ocean’s surface, about four miles south of its last known position. The team reports that the ship is in excellent shape. Even though the ship is made of wood and is over 100 years old, it has survived with little damage. Scientists say that the small worms that normally break down wooden objects underwater don’t live in the cold waters around Antarctica.
The Endurance 22 is led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The team ran the project from an ice-breaking ship. To locate the Endurance, the team used two underwater robots called Sabertooths which can travel by themselves deep under the sea. What makes them unique is that they can travel under the ice and go where the ship can not. Once the ship was located, the Sabertooths used high-quality cameras and scanners to record the Endurance in detail.
The Endurance22 plans to create a digital 3D model of the wreck site, using the careful scans they made. This will allow scientists to study the ship in detail without disturbing it.
1. What can we know about Shackleton?| A．He had a hard journey back home. | B．He was also a famous photographer. |
| C．He built the Endurance by himself. | D．He was the first to cross Antarctica. |
| A．Fine weather. | B．Its size. | C．Wood material. | D．Cold water. |
| A．They can operate by remote control. | B．They can search the sea floor. |
| C．They can travel under the ice. | D．They can break ice on the sea. |
| A．They will check it in person. | B．They will let it remain untouched. |
| C．They will use scanners to record its details. | D．They will raise it from the seabed immediately. |
8 . The researchers say they have discovered two huge magma chambers (岩浆库) under Wei Mountain in Heilongjiang. If it is true, it will be a surprising discovery since the volcano last erupted over 500,000 years ago.
Zhang Haijiang and his team visited nearly 100 sites across Wei Mountain. They were looking for magma, and they found an unusual signal from 15km underground, followed by another one at 8km. Their computer modelling suggested there could be two huge magma chambers with a depth of more than 9km. According to their research, 15 percent of the upper chamber is now filled with molten (熔化的) rock. Some studies have suggested that a volcanic eruption could take place when a chamber is filled to 40 percent magma.
They suggested that the volcanic activity in northeast China is likely to be in an active stage, and the active volcanic monitoring is needed to further understand the magma system in this area.
Xu Jiandong, director of the volcanic research, said seismic (地震的) stations had been monitoring this area for many years. "If there are really huge magma chambers in the area, we should have found some related seismic activities—When the lower chamber fills the upper one, there should be some movement," he said. "But so far, after decades of monitoring on the site, we've picked up almost nothing. The whole area has been very, very quiet," he added.
So did the researchers really find huge magma chambers? While the unusual signals found by Zhang's team looked like magma chambers, they could also have been caused by other things.
But what is for sure is that the area is active. It's like porridge boiling in a pot. But since the studies in recent years have suggested a low risk of immediate eruption in the area, the government has not set up seismic stations around. And it is certain that they aren't prepared for a big eruption over there.
1. What do Zhang Haijiang and his team say they've found under Wei Mountain?| A．Lots of frozen rocks. | B．Two magma chambers. |
| C．Nearly 100 volcanic sites. | D．A huge magma system. |
| A．They don't find any seismic activities. |
| B．The active volcanic monitoring is needed. |
| C．Their efforts to monitor volcanoes are useless. |
| D．Volcanic eruptions never happened in this area. |
| A．Volcanic eruptions. | B．Zhang's team members. |
| C．The seismic stations. | D．The unusual signals. |
| A．What Can Cause Volcanoes to Erupt in Northeast China? |
| B．Is Chinese Government Ready for Volcanic Eruptions? |
| C．Are There Magma Chambers Under Wei Mountain? |
| D．Is Active Volcanic Monitoring Needed in China? |
9 . In April 2018, a group of Canadian scientists flying in a helicopter (直升飞机) discovered something they didn't expect to see — a huge, unknown cave with an opening the size of a football field.
The cave was discovered in the northern part of Wells Gray Provincial Park, in a wild, faraway area of Canada's Cariboo Mountains. The area is hard to get to and even harder to travel through. It is covered with snow for much of the year.
The group told Catherine Hickson, a scientist who studies rocks, about the cave. Dr. Hickson got a team of researchers together to study it. In September, they went for a closer look after most of the snow melted (融化). The cave is one of the largest in Canada. Not only is the opening to the cave larger than a football field, the cave is also deep. The team couldn't measure (测量) all the way to the bottom, but they think it may be more than 180 meters deep. The cave is tens of thousands of years old. But the rock in the cave is made of used to be at the bottom of an ocean (海洋). It is hundreds of millions of years old.
A small, but fast river of melting snow leads into the cave on one side, creating a waterfall near the top and a river at the bottom. The water comes out again a long way away. The exit (出口) is about 2.1 kilometers away and about l/2 kilometer lower down.
The cave will have to wait to get an official name. For now, the cave is being called "Sarlacc's Pit "because it looks similar to the home of the Sarlacc, a person in the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi.
For Dr. Hickson, there's a lesson to be learned from the cave. "It shows you that you don't know everything, "she says." There are things yet to be discovered."
1. Why did the cave remain unknown in the past?| A．It is in a wild mountain area. | B．It has been there for just a few years. |
| C．Its opening is too small to be noticed. | D．The weather there is cold all year round. |
| A．The history of the cave. | B．Some facts about the cave. |
| C．The value of studying the cave. | D．The methods of studying the cave. |
| A．The snow. | B．The river. | C．The ocean. | D．The rock. |
| A．local culture | B．its discoverers | C．the way it looks | D．the name of a film star |
10 . Considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of mankind in the 20th century, the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan province has continued to amaze the world. Since May, more than 500 cultural relics have been found at the site.
Some of the bronze artifacts (工艺品) discovered during the current excavation have never been seen before, according to experts. They were beyond “our previous understanding of bronze wares and posed great challenges to our research”, said Xu Feihong, a lecturer at Shanghai University.
A unique bronze artifact from the No 3 pit features a man carrying a bronze vessel known as a zun that has a round rim (边沿) and a square body, said Ran Honglin, a researcher with Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.
Three bronze figures, with their palms pressed together and their heads twisted to the right, have been excavated from the No 4 pit.
These three bronze figures are a unique find among Sanxingdui items in terms of their shape and decorative pattern, and they provide further material for studying the bronze casting technology of the Shu people as well as their art, religious beliefs, social system and cultural exchanges with surrounding areas, Ran said. Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan.
Again, a gold mask is catching the world’s attention.
It is the biggest of its kind unearthed at the site so far. It is 37.2 centimeters wide, 16.5 cm high and weighs about 100 grams. Another thing that makes it stand out is that it is complete.
It was discovered in June at the No 3 pit. Earlier this year, a similar, but less complete gold mask was found at the No 5 pit.
Gold items were found at the Sanxingdui Ruins site as early as 1986, including gold foil (金箔) pieces that show how the precious metal was used by the ancient Shu people. The finding further illustrates the custom of the ancient Shu people to use gold items, experts said.
Radiocarbon dating (放射性碳年代测定) has shown that the No 3 and No 4 pits, at 3,000 to 3,200 years old, go back to the late Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC), Xu said.
Excavation of the No 4 pit was completed on Aug 19, and digging at the No 3 pit will be completed in the next two months. What other treasures will the pit bring us? Only time will tell!
1. Which of the following makes the three bronze figures stand out?| A．Their color and texture. |
| B．Their size and weight. |
| C．Their shape and pattern. |
| D．Their religious significance. |
| A．It was discovered at the No 4 pit. |
| B．It’s the largest of its kind unearthed in China. |
| C．It is 16.5 cm wide and 37.2 cm high. |
| D．It is complete to some degree. |
| A．They illustrate how the Shu people used the metal. |
| B．They show advanced techniques used in Shu. |
| C．They display the importance of metal in Shu. |
| D．They reflect the state’s economic development. |
| A．To introduce the origin of the gold mask. |
| B．To promote the Sanxingdui Ruins site. |
| C．To explore the value of cultural relics. |
| D．To report on a new archaeological discovery. |
